San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1887-03-17
Biographical-Henry Ward Beecher.

DiVS
Henry Ward Beecher was the most
prominent preacher, probably, that
America ever produced. He was one
of the thirteen children and the
fourth son of Lyman Beecher and
Roxana Foote Beecher. Born at
Litchfield, Conn, June "a, 1918, he
was consequently nearly IA years Of
age ut the time of his death. He
studied in pubic Latin schools at
Boston, graduated Mt Amherst col
lege, Mass, 1884, and studied the
ology under bis father at the Lane
seminary, near Cincinnati, o. He
first settled as Presbyterian minis
ter at Lawrenceburg, Ind, in 1887,
removed in 1889 to indianapolis, and
became pastor of the Plymouth Con
gregational church at Brooklyn, N
Y, in 1847. His church edifice has
a seating capacity for nearly 5000
persons, and his church membership
was in the neighborhood of 1000.
During his whole career he mingled
to greater extent than almost any
other preacher and pastor of his de
nomination in matters not directly
professional For nearly year dur
ing his theological course he edited
the Cincinnati Journal. religious
weekly. In Indiana he was editor OF
the Farmer and Gardner. In Brook
lyn lie soon became known as a pro-
nounced anti.slavery advocate, and
an advocate of temperance, peace
and other reforms, and very early
became prominent as platform ora
tor and lecturer. He had always been
strong Republican, but in the cam
paign of 1884 belonged to the "mug-
wump" wing of the party, and strong
ly supported Grover Cleveland for
the presidency. From the date OF
the establishment of the Independent
newspaper, in 1858, he was a con-
slant contributor to its columns, and
from 1861 to 1868, its chief editor.
In 1870 he became the editor-in-
chief of the Chsistian Union, week
ly religious paper, position he held
for about ten years, when he resigned
it to Mr.. Lyman Abbott, his associ-
ate editor. Mr.. Beecher visited
Europe three times. his last voyage
having been made only few months
ago, and addressed audiences in the
principal cities of Great Britain. In
1871 Henry w. Sage, a parishioner
of Mr.. Beecher's, founded lecture
ship on preaching called the Lyman
Beecher Lectureship, in the Yale
College Divinity school, and the first
three annual courses were delivered
by Mr.. Beecher. isregular weekly
sermons as taken down by steno-
graphic reporters have been printed
in the leading newspapers of the
country for number of years past.
He was the author of Life of Christ
and a number of essays, as well as a
novel called Norwood. At this time
it is not deemed proper to make
more than a passing allusion to the
celebrated Tilton- Beecher case which
convulsed Brooklyn society in 1874,
which resulted in the jury in the suit
for damages being unable to agree.
An investigation by a committee Of
Plymouth congregation reported that
the charge against Mr.. Beecber-
that of criminal intimacy with Mrs
Tilton-was without foundation. In
1878 Mr.. Beecher announced that he
did not believe in the eternity Of
punishment, believing that all pun
ishments are cautionary and remedi-
al. and that no greater cruelty could
be imagined than the continuance Of
suffering eternally, after all hope OF
reformation is gone. He was under
stood TO hold both to the annihila-
ton Of the irreclnimably deprayed
aud miserable, and the restoration Of
all others. In 1882 he formally with
drew from the Association of Con-
gregational churches on account OF
this change in belief.
The Austin Statesman. in referring